Dear Colleagues,

Today, we move from November, a month of gratitude, to December, a season of light and joyful hope. Yet, much remains dark and seemingly hopeless in our world. Earlier this week, I read a reflection on Isaiah 11:1-10 by Jim McDermott, S.J. in America Media. This bible passage depicts Isaiah’s vision of God’s Kingdom to come, which is captured in Edward Hick’s well-known painting, The Peaceable Kingdom.

Fr. McDermott shares how viscerally disconcerting it is to imagine a baby playing near a cobra as described in Isaiah 11:8 and concludes that Isaiah intended to shock us and point out how inconceivably different and even scandalous God’s kingdom is relative to our current reality. Fr. McDermott then provides a number of his own thought-provoking, perhaps scandalous, visions of God’s kingdom in the context of our world today. His visions provide examples of situations where there is no racism, homophobia, xenophobia, violence, or hate. For example, one of his visions of God’s kingdom is a place where you can hold hands with whomever you want or go into any bar without fear. Fr. McDermott’s reflection, which I hope you will read in full if you subscribe to America Magazine, has inspired me to continue imagining God’s kingdom in the context of our world today. My visions include a place where gun violence in America refers to water gun “fights” between siblings in backyards. 

God calls us to create on earth what is in heaven. During this Advent season of waiting in joyful hope, I invite you to imagine your, perhaps even scandalous, peaceable kingdom for our world and for Santa Clara University. What small steps can you take to create it? 

Happy Advent Season,

Julie Sullivan
President